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Students in Structural Biology study a wide range of problems from a structural and mechanistic perspective. Research in the department includes the mechanism of transcription and translation, chromatin structure, mechanism of antibiotic resistance, protein-RNA interactions, catalytic RNA, molecular chaperones, cell membrane recognition, cellular adhesion, evolution and mechanism of the immune response and theoretical studies of protein structure and dynamics. A broad spectrum of biophysical techniques, including x-ray crystallography, NMR, electron microscopy and computational methods is represented in the department. The graduate program strongly emphasizes research training. Students design their course program, typically a combination of specialized courses and core advanced courses in structural biology, biochemistry, genetics and cell biology to meet their educational goals. Students participate in an annual retreat which features research presentations by all the groups in the department. In addition, students attend seminar programs sponsored by the various biosciences programs.
For more information contact:
Kathleen Guan
Department of Structural Biology
Fairchild Building, D118
Stanford, CA 94305-5126
(650) 723-7576
(650) 723-8464 (fax)
structuralbio@med.stanford.edu
http://www.med.stanford.edu/school/structuralbio/
Faculty and their Research Interests
Zev Bryant. My laboratory seeks to understand the physical mechanisms by which biological molecular motors convert chemical energy into mechanical work. We use single molecule tracking and manipulation techniques to observe and perturb substeps in the mechanochemical cycles of individual motors. Protein engineering helps us to explore relationships between molecular structures and mechanical functions. Topics of current interest include torque generation by DNA-associated ATPases and mechanical adaptations of unconventional myosins.
K. Christopher Garcia. Specializes in structural and functional studies of cell-surface receptor/ligand interactions with relevance to human health and disease. Areas of interest are biophysical and molecular biological analysis of receptors involved in immune recognition, cell proliferation, neural guidance, and cardiovascular homeostasis.
Ted Jardetzky. Studying of the structures and mechanisms of macromolecular complexes important in viral pathogenesis, allergic hypersensitivities and the regulation of cellular growth and differentiation, with an interest in uncovering novel conceptual approaches to intervening in disease processes. Ongoing research projects include studies of paramyxovirus and herpesvirus entry mechanisms, IgE-receptor structure and function and TGF-beta ligand signaling pathways.
Roger Kornberg. Uses biochemical and crystallographic approaches for studying gene activation and transcription in yeast. He would like to understand the mechanisms by which enhancers and silencers promote or prevent gene activation, as well as the structure of a transcriptionally active or inactive gene.
Michael Levitt. Uses molecular modeling and molecular dynamics to make accurate predictions about the structure and function of macromolecules. His group attempts massive modeling of structure from sequence with novel approaches to sequence alignment, threading and homology modeling. They study protein folding and use molecular dynamics to simulate peptides, small proteins and DNA and RNA.
David McKay is a crystallographer who uses a variety of biophysical approaches to study the structure and mechanism of macromolecules in a variety of systems; representative examples are: molecular chaperones, including the 70 kD heat shock protein and the ClpX-ClpP stress response system; RNA enzymes, including the hammerhead and hepatitis delta virus ribozymes.
Jack McMahan. We use electron microscope tomography to study the three-dimensional organization and behavior of macromolecules at the nervous systems’s synapses. The information we obtain provides insights unobtainable in any other way about the molecular mechanism involved in synaptic impulse transmission and the sequence of steps in synapse formation. To augment our studies we maintain extensive programs aimed at developing methods for localizing known proteins to specific macromolecules and for the quantitative analysis of tomographic data, technologies that can be applied to the investigation of macromolecules in any tissues.
Peter Parham is interested in the evolution of the human immune response, particularly the role played by the class I major histocompatibility complex. His research focuses on the diversity of class I HLA molecules and the effect of this diversity on peptide binding specificity and on the interactions with the receptors of cytotoxic T-cells and natural killer cells.
Joseph Puglisi. Studies RNA structure and function, and combines aspects of biophysical and organic chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology. The structures of biologically important RNAs and their ligand complexes are determined using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Areas of interest are ribosome structure and function, RNA-targeted drug design, RNA structure in HIV and mechanism of translational initiation.
William Weis is interested in molecular interactions underlying the establishment and maintenance of cell and tissue structure, biochemical, biophysical and structural analysis of signaling pathways that govern cell fate determination, the architecture and dynamics of intercellular adhesive junctions, and mechanisms of intracellular vesicle trafficking. Carbohydrate-based cell recognition and adhesion in the immune system.
